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Mortitheurgy
There is no purer science or more fundamental study than the examination of the link between flesh and spirit. By our art we open the soft shell that encases the mechanisms of the flesh and lay bare its inner mysteries. Most simpletons cannot see past the crude shell which encases them. They believe their self rests in muscles, bones, ligaments, and the blood pumped through arteries. This crude and fragile assortment of fluids and gristle merely houses the spirit. Open the chest of a still-living slave, pry back the ribs, and reach down to touch the beating heart with your fingertips. Feel it spasm as you clench you fist and know that one small application of pressure an end a life. We require no blade to rend skin an no needle to mend it again. With practice it is remarkable how easy it is to end a life or to extend it. Our power can force the spirit to linger in the body and make brave the life essence which would otherwise prove cowardly and flee at the first hint of disruption. Only we fully understand that the power of the will has no limits. Our will is paramont, and reality bends as we desire. This is mortitheurgy. - Master Mortitheurge Karzen Moritaan commanding a powerful beast enslaved to his will.]] Mortitheurges come to their arcane powers by a unique blend of philosophy, the study of anatomy, and deep insight into the fundamental nature of the power inherent in the process of life and death. Mortitheurges understand that blood and living tissue have an innate power they can tap and harness. While a mortitheurge bears superficial similarities to a western necromancer, they arrive at their magic through different means and do not suffer some of the same limitations. They learn how to enhance their magic by mortifying their own bodies as well as drawing on life forces of enemies to bolster their allies and empower them to fight past the limits of death. For some, the magical practice is a tool of control, granting power over life and death; to others it is a weapon or a path to enlightenment. All Skorne are inherently capable of learning to manipulate mortitheurgical magic, though not all have the opportunity to devote themselves to its pursuit. Those who do - mortitheurges, extollers, and warlocks - are rewarded with great power. All mortitheurges credit their art to the seminal work of the great ancestor Voskune, an ancient mystic and ascetic who recognized and systematically explored the latent power of flesh and spirit. Origins Ages ago, the nomadic skorne gained insight into the complex workings of anatomy and physiology as they used pain to subdue the wild beasts of their world, first while hunting them for food and later while employing them as beasts of burden and warfare. As their knowledge increased, these ancient skorne discovered the secrets of the inherent energies of the spirit in life and death. This was the beginning of the skorne metaphysical traditions that eventually became mortitheurgy. Mortitheurgy was first codified into a system by Voskune the Ascetic. After decades of mortifying his own flesh and enduring experimentation and study in order to achieve understanding the vital link between mere flesh and its animating essence, Voskune learned to sense this sense this energy not just in himself but in living creatures around him, both skorne and beast. Upon discovering that this energy could be more seen more easily with a spiritually resonant crystal that had been properly cut and polished, he plucked out his own eye and replaced it with a crystal orb so that he could better observe these forces. It was thus that he first witnessed the spirits of slain warriors falling in the Void. Centuries later, two skorne named Ishoul and Kaleed each removed an eye and replaced it with a crystal oculus to build upon Voskune's knowledge and continue his work. It was they who noticed that certain stones pulled at a spirit; they spent their lives studying this phenomenon, eventually discovering the process of exaltation and thereby becoming the forebears of the extoller caste. Role In Skorne Culture & Society The importance of mortitheurgy to skorne culture cannot be overstated. Its philosophical principles and ascetic disciplines originate in antiquity and were studied long before the skorne had even possessed the written word. One could argue that the core intellectual foundations of skorne society, the two pillars that sustain the Skorne Empire, are the hoksune code and mortitheurgy. Mortitheurgy is the root field of arcane study, having given rise to numerous other disciplines, Paingivers, extollers, chymists, warlocks, and modern chirurgeons all rely on mortitheurgy to a greater or lesser degree The study of mortitheurge pervades many strata of skorne society. Tyrants and dominars master its arts to control warbeasts and to empower or dominate the soldiers they lead in battle. Paingivers utilize it to wield pain as a tool and weapon as they manipulate their subjects, whether beast, slave, or captive. Master mortitheurges can hold death itself at bay, allowing their guardians to fight on despite mortal wounds or agonizing pain. Starvation and exposure to the elements can also be ignored by an army tended by mortitheurges of sufficient power and skill. The sacred arts of the extoller are an extension of mortitheurgy whereby spirtual essence is manipulated and the greatest of skorne are preserved in sacral stones, after which they can stride the battlefield again immortals or ancestral guardians, This not to say that all skorne utilize mortitheurgy, as many do not, but the effects of this discipline do reach to every caste. Even the lowest slave might be well acquainted with mortitheurgy if it is employed to force him to work twice as hard and twice as long as he could normally bear. Skorne Warlocks Unlike the warlocks of the west, skorne warlocks achieve their talent through dedicated study of mortitheurgy rather than any inborn talent. All skorne warlocks are trained in the simple mortitheurgical fundamentals as well as a more specific area of study that deals with the domination of the wills of their slaves and vassals, and exploitation of powerful enslaved creatures and warbeasts. The training gives a warlock the means to form a powerful bond with beasts. They learn to control not only the beasts's flesh and blood but also the vital power of raw rage. Skorne warlocks are masters of tapping into this power and using it to fuel their magic. The warbeasts they command feed the warlocks with renewable supply of power with each adrenaline-fueled attack and each wound suffered in combat. Skorne warlocks can also drive their warbeasts beyond normal physical limitations, inducing them greater fury to stoke the fires of the warlock's arcane might. In dire situation, an injured warlock can tap into his connection with a beast's vitality to force it to suffer the wound in his stead. Though all warlocks practice the art, a deep divide exists between those harness the power of mortitheurgy for the advantages it grants them in battle and those who plumb its deeper mysteries. A house's ruler and its' heir are traditionally expected to learn the fundamentals of controlling warbeasts, but many stop there. Those who take this pursuit more seriously become the most formidable adversaries to the Skorne Empire's enemies. Warlocks are pivotally important to the empire's westward expansion, and their efforts make the difference between victory and defeat. Eager to earn further glory and renown for themselves and the houses they lead, they display discipline and fearlessness in battle, earning the privilege of exaltation. See Also * [[Mortitheurge Willbreaker|'Mortitheurge Willbreaker']] Sources & References * Monsternomicon ~ Vol.II: The Iron Kingdoms and Beyond ~, pg. 227-231 * Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Skorne Empire, pg. 59, 89-90 * Forces of Hordes Skorne Command, pg.18-21 Category:Magic Category:Skorne Category:Skorne Empire